"All of the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles have strengthened me....You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."~Walt Disney

·Condolences To The Family Of Former Phoenix Mayor John Driggs. Sen Adam Driggs has announced that his father passed away peacefully early this home – at home with his family around him. Arrangements tba.

·Outgoing Speaker Andy Tobin:“I am fortunate to have met former Phoenix Mayor John Driggs many years ago. I was then and still am grateful for his regular presence at the Arizona Capitol. The deep care he held for his beloved state of Arizona, energetic presence and statesmanlike stature will be missed. My deepest sympathies go out to my dear friend Senator Adam Driggs and the entire Driggs family.”

·Speaker Elect David Gowan: “The passing of former Phoenix Mayor John Driggs marks the loss of a great Arizona statesman and tireless public servant. Even in his later years, as Chairman of the Arizona Capitol Centennial Committee, John Driggs worked to return the historic State Capitol building to legislative functioning, and connect it via a second-floor skyway to the House and Senate buildings. My heartfelt sympathies go out to Senator Adam Driggs and his family.”

·Open Letter to Robert GrahamFrom The AFA Team: Editor’s Note:Due to the length of the entire letter, including questions regarding Graham’s alleged use of AZGOP e-mails for campaigning,tonight Brief is posting just the 14 questions within the AFA Team letter, many PCs have been asking over the past few weeks. To read the entire letter, including the content regarding use AGZOP e-mails go to http://arizonafreedomalliance.ning.com/main/-- the AFA web site main page that is open to the public. The AFA Team’s 14 questions:

1.MCRC Chairman LaFaro has been sending out a call for candidates for MCRC positions together with the deadline for Intent to Run letters for over two months, well before he announced he would not stand for re-election.Why is it that you have never sent out such a call for candidates for AZGOP positions and no one can determine when the deadline is for Intent to Run letters?

2.You ran on being able to personally raise millions of dollars for AZGOP.Money is needed to help Republican statewide candidates get elected.Because you have not put out any cash flow statements or balance sheets or Financial Reports to the Executive Committee, we took a look at the campaign finance reports.What is revealed there can only be fully discerned with additional knowledge that has not been forthcoming from you to your council of advisors made up of elected LD chairmen and elected members-at-large.

How much funding on the campaign finance reports came from the RNC and would have come to whoever was chairman?

Why did you spend so much on the Yes on 122 initiative but so little on statewide candidates with Democrat challengers?Where did the funding come from and was it specifically earmarked for that expenditure?We advocated for that initiative, so we are happy that it passed.But the question needs to be answered.

Why did the party lose hundreds of PCs during the last two years?What have you done to recruit PCs to fill an ever growing number of empty seats?

Why is Republican voter registration down by 32,830 in the past two years, years when the GOP was on the ascendancy?What have you done to increase Republican voter registrations and voter education?Whatever it was, it was not successful.

Why was Arizona number 37 out of 48 contiguous states in Republican voter turnout under your watch?Getting Republican voters to the polls is job one for the Chairman.

Why did we not win Legislative seats in LD4, LD8, LD9, LD10 and LD28 that were very winnable but lacked funds to get across the finish line?We barely kept the majority and did not add a single new seat to the Republican side of the ledger.The Superintendent candidate just squeaked by.There is no entry on your campaign finance reports indicating AZGOP gave any help to Douglas outside of the backside of one mailer with other candidates.

Why did you show up to speak at campaign events for Doug Ducey in the Primary?Did you do the same for conservative candidates like Andrew Thomas, Frank Riggs, Christine Jones and others?

Why have you eliminated nearly all volunteers working in the AZGOP office?Without them, when someone calls that office, they are met by an answering machine on which you have to punch in a code for the person you want to speak with.If you don't know the code, a message must be left with a prayer that it will be returned.Many are never returned.

Why haven’t you held more than a couple of Executive Committee meetings over the past two years when the AZGOP Bylaws mandate a lot more than that?

Why haven’t you adhered to the AZGOP Bylaws?For example Article IV F(1) “The state chairman shall be the recognized leader of the state party and, in cooperation with the county chairmen, shall coordinate statewide party activities.

What is the point of having an Executive Committee if you continue to undermine and ignore?

And last, why have you ignored State Committeemen who voted overwhelmingly to have closed Primaries?Forming a “Study Committee” after you are elected for a second term is not action!

·Attention LD Chairmen. The deadline to submit memorials for the January 2015 Maricopa County Republican Committee’s Statutory Meeting is Sat, Dec 12. The MCRC wants to recognize and remember fellow Precinct Committeeman who passed away this past year. Please keep the memorials to 250 words and include a photo. The memorials will be printed and put into each Precinct Committeeman’s packet for the Statutory Meeting.E-mail memorials to LD12 Chairman Mickie Niland at chairman@azld12.com.

·Rep. Matt Salmon after the House voted yesterday to authorize sanctions against Venezuela for crushing peaceful opposition and protests with violence and oppression.“Earlier this year, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s administration began a concerted campaign of violence and intimidation aimed at ending peaceful protests against a tyrannical and paranoid regime’s tenuous grip on power. Those actions resulted in over 40 deaths and further showcased the serious human rights abuses taking place on a daily basis under President Maduro.The people of Venezuela deserve a democratically elected government and lives free of government oppression and coercion. It is my hope that these sanctions will encourage the Venezuelan government to stop their assault on the rights of Venezuelans to freely protest and demand change free from state-sponsored violence.”

·Conservative Review Acknowledges Rep. Matt Salmon for joining with 15 other Republicans in voting against the CRomnibus rule and keeping their promise to fight Obama’s executive amnesty."In Washington, most members like to take symbolic actions, but lack the fortitude to do what it takes to ensure that harmful policies are stopped. Today Salmon showed he was not one of them as he stood up to his party's leadership and President Obama as they tried to ram a 1,700- page spending bill that funded Obama’s amnesty through the House today.Arizonans should be proud of Salmon and the few brave members who opposed the CRomnibus rule. They are conservative champions, the rest are just talk,” said Senior Editor Daniel Horowitz.

·Rep. Matt Salmon Tonight Upon The House Passage of a government spending bill that funded the President’s illegal executive action: “Tonight, I was proud to stand on the side of our Constitution and vote against funding President Obama’s plan to continue flouting the laws of our nation by providing funds for his illegal and unconstitutional executive actions. What separates us from the monarchies or dictatorships of the past is the principle that the power of government must be separated to pit ambition against ambition. But the rule of law must prevail above all else for such a system to function. Yet, as the President now acts to ‘change law’ (something that neither his ‘existing authorities,’ nor our Constitution, grant him the ability to do), many in Congress chose to ignore their obligation to uphold and defend our Constitution. I am disappointed by tonight’s outcome, but I will continue to do everything in my power to prevent the President’s illegal actions in this Congress and the next.”

oBackground: On November 13, Rep. Salmon and 62 other cosigners sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee encouraging them to defund the President’s executive amnesty in any funding bills coming from the House. Yesterday, on December 10, he spoke in support of an amendment to the CR-Omnibus, based on his suggestion, which Rep. Mulvaney introduced. More information is available on his website at http://salmon.house.gov

·Congressman Paul A. Gosar after voting against the passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, better known as the “CROmnibus” spending bill: “The time has come where Congress must stand for something or fall for everything. The American people voted overwhelmingly for a change in how business is done in Washington D.C. and this “CROmnibus” does the exact opposite. They are fed up of the executive overreach coming from President Obama and his big government policies. They are fed up with Congress passing massive spending bills with little to no time to read what is actually in the bill. By not taking a stand against this flawed process, we are damaging, for future generations, the institution that has been the heartbeat of our Republic. My constituents did not send me to Congress to be part of the status quo. I will continue to stand against the president’s unconstitutional amnesty as well as the flawed process of lawmaking without proper oversight and accountability.”

·Dianne-Feinsteins-Travesty … The Senate Intelligence Committee spent roughly $50 million on its investigation into the CIA and apparently couldn’t find Michael Hayden’s phone number. The committee portrays Gen. Hayden, the former CIA director, as a liar who deceived Congress about the agency’s interrogation program, yet the committee couldn’t be bothered to interview him. That’s because it didn’t bother to interview anyone. The committee’s chair, Dianne Feinstein, says such interviews were made impossible by Justice Department investigations into the people responsible for the interrogation program, but those investigations ended years ago.

·Sen Kimberly Yee has been awarded the Arizona Bioindustry Association for the 2014 AZBio Trailblazer Award for the third year straight.

·Today, Phx Councilwoman Thelda Williams and Councilman Daniel Valenzuela held the first meeting of the Civilian Retirement Security Ad Hoc Committee, which was created by Mayor Greg Stanton. The Committee is comprised of community and business leaders and is charged with recommending ways to strengthen the City of Phoenix Employees’ Retirement System (COPERS). https://www.phoenix.gov/news/district5/542

·The City Of Phoenix Has Issued $598 Million In Revenue Bonds to refund $497 million in existing Water System bonds and $175 million in commercial paper (short term debt) used to finance the department’s Capital Improvement Program. This transaction saves the Water Services Department $73 million through 2019. https://www.phoenix.gov/news/waterservices/540

·The Arizona Corporation Commission Today Revoked The Licenses of a Tucson investment advisory company and a Scottsdale investment adviser representative for their dishonest and unethical conduct in the securities industry. Also, the Commission shut down an unregistered real estate investment program, sanctioning a Scottsdale man for defrauding investors. See Commission orders S-20864A-12-0439. S-20909A-14-0226. S-20883A-13-0112.

·Arizona Corporation Cautions Investors: Even when selling a legitimate product, some promoters do not recognize the investment program they have created is a security. Whether an alternative investment is a security is not always easy to determine and depends upon the unique facts and circumstances of the transaction and not on what a promoter calls the investment product. Even when investing with someone they know, investors should verify the registration of sellers and investment opportunities and investigate disciplinary histories by contacting the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Securities Division at 602-542-4242 or toll free in Arizona at 1-866-VERIFY-9. The Division’s investor education web site also has helpful information at www.azinvestor.gov.

·The Arizona Corporation Commission today approved a measure that will lower Southwest Gas’ Energy Efficiency Enabling Provision (EEP) rate to -$0.02626 per therm, which will be reflected as a credit on customers’ monthly bills. The average credit to residential customer bills will be $0.55/month, or approximately $6.64 annually. “Decoupling has been a success, both for the company and for Arizonans,” said Chairman Bob Stump. “I commend Southwest Gas' efforts for help enable consumers to benefit.”“I believe future Commissions should seek decoupling mechanisms for other utilities as a way to avoid rate shock,” said Commissioner Gary Pierce. The EEP is a decoupling mechanism that allows the company to recover its Commission-authorized fixed costs regardless of its level of sales. When Southwest gas engages in energy efficiency practices, it is in effect selling less natural gas, and its revenues will decrease. Decoupling was approved by the Commission to, in part, separate rates from customer usage and allow the company to maintain financial stability. For the time period between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013, the Commission found that this revenue decoupling mechanism accomplished its objectives, including both enhanced revenue stability for the Company and bill stabilization for consumers.

·Cochise, Greenlee, Graham and Pima County LD14 PCs have passed a resolution limiting PCs to carrying “no more than four proxies,” according to Chairman Tom Crosby. This prevents individual PCs from “stacking the deck” by carrying numerous proxies.

·Capitol Times Is Sponsoring “Rock The Capitol: A salute to the 2013-14 Legislature and the incoming freshmen” at 5:30 pm, Thurs., Dec 11. Contact: Melanie Campbell at 602.889.7125 or melanie.campbell@azcapitoltimes.com

·The Annual Prescott J.S. Acker Night” starts at 5:30 pm, Fri., Dec 12 in Downtown Prescott. YavGop will once again be participating in this event! We will again be hosting the very popular, "Rusty Pistols Cowboy Band." Volunteers are needed to bring in cookies and a sign up sheet is available at the headquarters. We also need volunteers for Greeters from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. in 30 minute increments. The 5:30 - 6:00 slot has already been taken. Call (928) 776-4500.

·The Pima County Republican Club will hold its Christmas Party on Dec 12 at the Sabbar Shrine Center 450 S. Tucson Blvd. Buffet dinner and band. Tickets: $10 per member & guest. $25 for non-members. Reservations required. No tickets sold at the door. Purchase tickets from Harry Carrigan, Treasurer, 940 N Venice Ave., Tucson, AZ 85711.

·The Pima County Republican Party Statutory Meeting is scheduled at 9 am, Sat., Dec 13 at the Fraternal Order of Police, 3445N. Dodge Blvd.,Tucson 85716. Credentials open at 8 am.

·The Installation Of The New Paradise Republican Women’s Officers will held during their Christmas Party on Sat., Dec 13.You’ll also get a chance to Secretary of State Elect Michele Reagan, who is a club member, at the Gainey Ranch Golf Club, 7600 E Gainey Club Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85258.10:30 am social. 11:30 am program/luncheon including silent auction. $28 per person.Mail reservations/checkto Rosalie Barley, PRWC Treasurer, PO Box 14425, Scottsdale, AZ 85267 by Thurs.,Dec ll.

·The Fountain Hills Republican Club Christmas Potluck Brunch will be held Sat., Dec 13 at the FH Community Center, 13001 N. La Montana Drive, featuring former Sen Jon Kyl. Several state and local representatives will also be in attendance. Participants are asked to bring a toy for the Annual USMC Toys-For-Tots Drive.RSVP what you plan to bring to share to 3rd V.P. Rosemary Hansen At Rbud88@Msn.Com . Free admission.Membership dues – Jan1, 2015. $15 individual or $20 per family. Send memberships fees to: FH Republican Club, P.O. Box 17814, Fountain Hills, AZ 85269-7814.

DECEMBER 14

·"The Joe Show" is to air AT 5 PM (EST) on December 14th on the cable TV network, "Investigation Discovery."The 104 minute show on Sheriff Joe Arpaio is cut to 90 minutes for the broadcast.The DVD and digital is scheduled for release on Dec 16 in full length. investigationdiscovery.com

DECEMBER 15

·LD22 PC and Peoria City Councilman Ben Toma will host the LD22 Christmas Party at 7 pm, Mon., Dec 15 at 8707 W. Buckhorn Trail, Peoria AZ 85383MAP . Chairman Eric Morgan asked that participants bring a small finger food/dessert dish. The district provides beverages. A few volunteers are needed to help with set up or take down – contact Morgan ericmorgan.gop@gmail.com

·Bruce Fein, Attorney And Vocal Opponent Of The NSA Domestic Spying on American citizens, will be speaking at5:30 pm, Dec 15 at the Arizona State University's downtown campus A.E. England Building at Civic Space Park, Phoenix, AZ. Hosted by KnowledgeWorks and Young Americans for Liberty: Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bill-of-rights-day-tickets-14368170585

·Phoenix Vice Mayor Jim Waring is hosting a holiday party at 5:30 pm, Tues., Dec 16 at Zipps Sports Grill - 6501 E. Greenway Blvd., Phoenix. Participants are asked to bring pudding and applesauce cups to be donated to Kitchen on the Street for their bags of hope.

·Dianne-Feinsteins-Travesty The Senate Intelligence Committee spent roughly $50 million on its investigation into the CIA and apparently couldn’t find Michael Hayden’s phone number.The committee portrays Gen. Hayden, the former CIA director, as a liar who deceived Congress about the agency’s interrogation program, yet the committee couldn’t be bothered to interview him.That’s because it didn’t bother to interview anyone. The committee’s chair, Dianne Feinstein, says such interviews were made impossible by Justice Department investigations into the people responsible for the interrogation program, but those investigations ended years ago.